Apple WWDC19: Highlights and All the Stuff That Matters to You

The Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is a conference held annually by Apple Inc. in San Jose, California. Apple uses the event to showcase its new software and technologies for software developers. Attendees can participate in hands-on labs with Apple engineers and attend in-depth sessions covering a wide variety of topics.

This year Apple WWDC19 took place from 3rd June 2019 to 7th June 2019. Knowlab covers some special highlights of the keynote for our readers.

The end of iTunes

It is certainly the information that will make the most headlines. Rumors were suggesting it and Tim Cook confirmed it on stage. Its download software, which was not suitable for streaming content, no longer really met users’ needs. After 18 years of good and loyal services, iTunes is now closing its doors in favor of the Cupertino firm’s other content distribution services, including Apple Music (56 million users), Apple Podcasts and Apple TV+ announced recently.

1) Apple previews iOS 13

Craig Federighi unveils iOS 13, the latest version of the world’s most advanced mobile operating system.

Features:

Introduces new look for iPhones with Dark Mode,

Advanced Photo and Camera Features,

Easier Browsing and Powerful Editing Tools for Photos,

Fast, Easy and Private Sign In with Apple ID

All-New Maps Experience

2) iPad Gets Its Own OS

The new iPadOS powers unique experiences designed for iPad. New Home Screen, Powerful Multitasking, New Ways to Use Apple Pencil and More. iPadOS builds on the same foundation as iOS, adding powerful new capabilities and intuitive features specific to the large display and versatility of iPad.

Features:

New Home screen has been redesigned with a new layout to show more apps on each page.

Do More with Split View and Slide Over. iPad users can now work with multiple files and documents from the same app simultaneously with updates to Split View, or can quickly view and switch between multiple apps in Slide Over.

With iPadOS, Apple Pencil is even more integrated into the iPad experience. Customers can now mark up and send entire webpages, documents or emails on iPad by swiping Apple Pencil from the corner of the screen.

The Files app is a central place to quickly access and manage documents, and with iPadOS, it gets even better with iCloud Drive support for folder sharing.

Safari is more powerful than ever on iPad. iPadOS automatically presents the desktop version of the website, scaled appropriately for the iPad display, and optimises it for touch, so web apps like Google Docs, Squarespace and WordPress work great in Safari on iPad.

Text editing on iPad receives a major update with iPadOS, making it easier and faster to point with even more precision and speed, select text with just a swipe and use new gestures to cut, copy, paste and undo.

3) watch OS 6

Kevin Lynch introduces watchOS 6. watchOS 6 advances health and fitness capabilities for Apple Watch. Introduced Cycle Tracking, Noise app, Activity Trends and App Store Right on the Wrist. It also has access to voice memos, audiobooks and calculator. All Apple Watch features are designed to protect user privacy. None of the audio or sounds in the environment are saved by the Noise app or sent to Apple — only the decibel level is sampled. Siri search queries can display webpage results in full on Apple Watch.

4) Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR

All-new Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR are the most powerful tools Apple has ever put in the hands of pro customers and will change pro workflows forever.

Designed for maximum performance, expansion and configurability, the all-new Mac Pro features workstation-class Xeon processors up to 28 cores, a high-performance memory system with a massive 1.5TB capacity, eight PCIe expansion slots and a graphics architecture featuring the world’s most powerful graphics card. It also introduces Apple Afterburner, a game-changing accelerator card that enables playback of three streams of 8K ProRes RAW video simultaneously.

Pro Display XDR features a massive 32-inch Retina 6K display with gorgeous P3 wide and 10-bit colour, an extreme 1,600 nits of peak brightness, an incredible 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio and a superwide viewing angle, all at a breakthrough price point. Together, the new Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR are the most powerful tools Apple has ever put in the hands of pro customers and will change pro workflows forever.

5) macOS Catalina

Apple previewed macOS Catalina, the latest version of the world’s most advanced desktop operating system, packed with cool new features, fresh new apps and powerful new technology for developers. With macOS Catalina, the apps you love are now more beautiful and intelligent than ever. So your everyday tasks are easier than ever. With macOS Catalina, Apple is replacing iTunes with its popular entertainment apps — Apple Music, Apple Podcasts and the Apple TV app. With Sidecar, iPad can be used as an extended display for Mac and a high-precision drawing tablet across supported Mac apps.

6) tvOS 13

Apple previewed tvOS 13, the operating system that makes Apple TV 4K the easiest and most personalised entertainment device for enjoying TV shows, movies, music, photos, games and apps on the biggest screen in the home. With tvOS 13, Apple TV 4K gains an immersive new Home screen; multi-user support for customers to access their own TV shows, movies, Apple Music and recommendations; support for Apple Arcade; expanded game controller support, Xbox and PlayStation game controllers; and new 4K HDR screen savers filmed under the sea.

7) Apple unveils groundbreaking new technologies for app development

Apple today unveiled several innovative technologies that make it dramatically easier and faster for developers to create powerful new apps. SwiftUI is a revolutionary development framework that makes building powerful user interfaces easier than ever before. ARKit 3, RealityKit and Reality Composer are advanced tools designed to make it even easier for developers to create compelling AR experiences for consumer and business apps. New tools and APIs greatly simplify the process of bringing iPad apps to Mac. And updates to Core ML and Create ML allow for more powerful and streamlined on-device machine learning apps.